Customer Reviews

Fifty Dead Men Walking: The Heroic True Story of a British Secret Agent Inside the IRA

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Excellent story with interesting personal accounts which have you feeling encaptivated in the life of 'Agent Carol'. The down to earth, almost conversational tone of the book also adds to the reality of it, which succeeds in encasing what it is like growing up in some areas of Northern Ireland. Definitely not biased towards the British - or the IRA as has been ludicrously suggested, as I am aware from living just outside Belfast. An eye-opening book definitely not to be missed.

The moment I started to read this book I couldn't put it down. I read it in a day and even now months later I remember it like I read it yesterday. The images Martin McGarland created will stay with me for a very long time. This book is not only an education into the troubles in Ireland it is also a testament to the strength and courage of an amazing man. I would recommend this book to everyone and anyone.

Just to add another twist to the tale... On Thursday 17th June 1999 Martin McGartland was shot 5 times in the legs and stomach at the secret address in Tyneside where he'd gone to escape from IRA death threats. He survived by grabbing the assassin's gun, causing him to flee the scene before a fatal shot was fired. The bullets removed from his body where traced back to Northern and Ireland and McGarland is quoted as believing he has once again escaped an IRA-death squad. Eamon Collins, author of another IRA expose-book "Killing Rage" was found bludgeoned to death on a country road back in January. His face had been gouged out with knives. Collins too had been warned his life was under threat from the IRA.

The thought that speaking out against terrorism and writing this sort of book can carry a death sentence is quite a sobering one.

Martin McGartland was a small-time criminal in Belfast's Catholic ghetto when he was approached by agents of the Royal Ulster Constabulary's 'Special Branch' (roughly equivalent to our FBI) and turned into a double agent inside the IRA. While the story is gripping I found it hard to be especially sympathetic to McGartland, who basically sells out the IRA because he doesn't care for their anti-crime efforts!

McGartland's bland story of his recruitment as a double agent doesn't quite ring true for me; undoubtedly the R.U.C. had plenty of criminal evidence against him. As he is now in a British witness protection program we may assume a certain degree of self-interest in his demonization of his one-time 'comrades'! Nevertheless the gritty depiction of life in Catholic Belfast and McGartland's escapades as a double agent (especially his arrest by the IRA) make absorbing reading.

Doesn't anybody proofread these Kindle versions of books? I purchased this book last night and only a few pages in the numerous typos and formatting errors are making reading it a chore and not an enjoyment.

Bad punctuation, capitalization where it is not needed, paragraph breaks in the middle of sentences and on and on. The publisher wouldn't let the printed version of a book go out like this, so why let the electronic version have numerous errors in it?

Tremendous book . I had Read It Several Years ago , When i was in the Uk, saw it on Amazon , and read it again .
Martin Mc Gartland is a tribute to the Irish People .
A young man who became an agent for the special branch, knowing that if he was found out by the IRA it would mean Torture , then certain Death.....
He was known as 'agent Carol' and gave vital information which saved many lives both protestant and catholic.
His title of the book "Fifty Dead Men Walking" is an understatement , i truly believe he saved alot more than fifty.
It is an essential read, and also to read his second book "dead Man Running" Thankyou Martin , for all you have sacrificed.....

The moment I started to read this book I couldn't put it down. I read it in a day and even now months later I remember it like I read it yesterday. The images Martin McGarland created will stay with me for a very long time. This book is not only an education into the troubles in Ireland it is also a testament to the strength and courage of an amazing man. I would recommend this book to everyone and anyone.

fifty dead men walking is an amazing true life story. Martin McGartland is a very brave man to do what he did, it had me in tears to think that now he is away from his children & family whom he will never see again . i can only say that i wish Martin Mcgartland well in his new life as he truly deserves it

After reading some of the apparently pro IRA comments here I thought I'd like to add a few comments.

British were not a hostile occupying or invading power. The British army was sent to Northern Ireland to in part protect the Catholic community from victimisation by the majority Protestant community. The British army was initially welcomed by the Catholic community and the problems only began when the British quite rightly set about disarming all paramilitary sectarian groups and not just Protestant ones.

There is no denying that the IRA and other terrorist groups committed a wide range of crimes from torture, mass murder and indeed crimes against humanity through to extortion and other crimes more usually associated with more ordinary Mafia like organised crime. How some Americans can defend or excuse the IRA baffles me as does the fact that Americans bankrolled the IRA for years and thus were complicit in the crimes and atrocities they committed.

You can criticise the Northern Irish and British Army and police for some of their actions but I'd ask you to look at their actions in context and measure them against the performance of the US army and police and the acts they have committed in the USA and wider world.

How would you Americans feel if your family members were blown apart in a bar while out enjoying themselves by a terrorist organisation funded by a European country? Doubtless you'd be incensed?

Martin McGarland was a petty criminal but that's nothing to what the IRA were. He took a stand against them and in doing so saved the lives of many people at great personal cost. In my opinion he's a real hero and deserves our praise. The IRA members who's only heroism is to plant a bomb under a car or in a bar or to shoot an off duty policeman in the back of the head or to knee cap a petty criminal deserve nothing but our condemnation.

I read this book cover to cover in 24 hours !!! , i couldn't put it down . It shows true IRA and sprecial branch life , and exposses the IRA for the real scum that they are . This book is so well written and i would seriously recommend the new book by the same author " Dead man running"